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What Are You Afraid Of?: Facing Down Your Fears with Faith

Review

Pastor, author and radio personality Dr. David Jeremiah knows one thing: fear is universal, the great equalizer. In his newest book, WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?, Jeremiah addresses the most common fears in today’s society and right along through history. No matter how technological society becomes, fears continue to rage through the hearts and minds of folks from every walk of life. This text, if taken seriously, can help to tame the tiger of fear that has been unleashed by men and women everywhere.

"In such a time as this, when chaos and crisis are the daily fodder worldwide, Jeremiah’s calming text will provide a peaceful perspective and a deeper restful response to any and all of life’s woes."

Jeremiah has formatted his book by various types of fears. Each of his 10 chapters is filled with real-life stories of men and women who have been (or are) afraid of something in their lives (or in their imaginations). He details each scenario in colorful descriptives so that readers can identify with the individual’s fearful response, and then dismantles it via God’s promises. Right thinking, an accurate knowledge of God and what He has pledged throughout the Bible are just a few of the basic tools for arming ourselves against the enemy of fear.

Jeremiah focuses his attention on these specific elements surrounding fear and their coinciding responses:

Disaster: the fear of natural calamity

Disease: the fear of illness

Debt: the fear of financial loss

Defeat: the fear of failure

Disconnection: the fear of being alone

Disapproval: the fear of rejection

Danger: the fear of major trouble

Depression: the fear of mental breakdown

Death: the fear of dying

Deity: the fear of God

Readers will find Jeremiah’s treatment of each of these subjects helpful, in part because every one of them is a fear common to individuals everywhere (at some point in their lives).

The author’s ability to turn fearful events and out-of-control moments into peaceful situations that cannot shake us is a wonderful skill indeed. He opens each chapter with a difficulty that borders on disastrous and then leads readers directly to what the Bible has to say about such matters. Jeremiah slowly unpacks numerous biblical principles for dealing with said fear, and as he does so, the power of the fear is radically diminished. He continually encourages readers to place their full confidence and focus upon Christ for every unsettling situation they face. As readers discipline their hearts and minds to go to God first in moments of terror and fear, they will slowly find themselves transformed as well.

That is precisely what Jeremiah hopes will happen. Fears will be replaced by an inner quiet confidence in the sovereignty and goodness of God. Day by day, Christ followers will grow in grace, and they themselves will be changed into mature believers whose very trials and troubles will not undo them, but rather will make them fit for serving God in a greater capacity. In such a time as this, when chaos and crisis are the daily fodder worldwide, Jeremiah’s calming text will provide a peaceful perspective and a deeper restful response to any and all of life’s woes.

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